Any actor in his place would've immediately shifted to Mumbai after the super-success of his debut film in Hindi, RANG DE BASANTI, but Siddharth decided to focus on his Telugu film career in Hyderabad. "My career had taken off in a big way in Telugu films then and I didn't want to let it go," Siddharth informs me. 

Siddharth is back with his second Hindi film STRIKER, after a substantial gap. The film, directed by Chandan Arora [MAIN MADHURI DIXIT BANNA CHAHTI HOON, MAIN MERI PATNI AUR WOH], is set is the 80s in Malvani in Mumbai. Siddharth feels it's the right vehicle for his 'comeback' in Hindi films. "Actually, Chandan had approached me for an entirely different film - a love story, which we plan to make some day - but I wasn't too keen to work on it then. That's when Chandan came up with the story of a carrom player's life and I said, yes, this is it," the talented actor states. 

Siddharth is supremely confident of STRIKER. "I don't believe in the concept of big or small films. It's the audience that decides on a Friday what film is big or small. All I can say now is that STRIKER has the potential to be a big film since it dares to tell a story that has never been told before," he states. 

Siddharth, who has now focused his sights on Bollywood, has worked with some of the biggest names in the business [Mani Ratnam, Shankar, Prabhu Deva, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra]. "I met a lot of makers after RANG DE BASANTI, who were keen that I work with them. I hope we do work this time. I am in no hurry," he flashes a confident smile.

By Taran Adarsh